Canucks-Oilers Preview

There might have been some hangover from winning the Presidents' Trophy for the Vancouver Canucks in their last game.

They will try to avenge a loss to the league-worst Edmonton Oilers when the Northwest Division rivals meet Tuesday night for the second time in four nights.

Vancouver (52-18-9) clinched the best record in the NHL with Thursday's 3-1 home win over Los Angeles, so there was little to play for Saturday at home against Edmonton (24-43-11). The Canucks won the team's first four meetings before a 4-1 loss ended their five-game win streak.

"They were very excited, motivated about playing us, and they deserved to win," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said.

Vigneault started backup Cory Schneider, who made 30 saves as his personal six-game win streak was snapped.

Roberto Luongo could be back in goal Tuesday when Vancouver tries to extend its franchise-record nine-game road win streak. He's posted a 2.02 goals-against average in winning both starts against the Oilers this season, and is 8-1-0 with a 1.66 GAA in his last nine games overall.

The Oilers ended an 0-8-3 skid as Jordan Eberle, Kurtis Foster and Linus Omark all had one goal and one assist. Edmonton went 2 for 3 on the power play after going 1 for 14 in the first four meetings.

"A confidence builder," Eberle said. "It was awesome to beat the Presidents' Trophy winner, and now we get another shot at them."

"That's why you savor opportunities like this," coach Tom Renney said. "This is the best team in the National Hockey League and we get a chance to put our young guys through the acid test.

"Our young guys managed up to the task."

Edmonton has a league-worst 59 points, and is looking for a strong finish to surpass last season's total of 62. The Oilers expect the Canucks to be more motivated Tuesday.

"They're probably going to want to come in and play better than they did," goalie Devan Dubnyk told the Oilers' official website. "Not to take away from what we did -- I thought we had a pretty great game there and there's no reason that we can't do that again, but we certainly have to expect a hard push from them."

The Sedin brothers managed one point Saturday after combining for 38 during the Canucks' 12-1-0 stretch that preceded the contest. Daniel Sedin leads the NHL with 100 points while reigning Art Ross Trophy winner Henrik is fourth with 94.

The brothers combined for 13 points in the four victories against Edmonton.

Vancouver's power play leads the league at 24.4 percent, but went 0 for 4 on Saturday.

"This is kind of a good thing, I think," forward Raffi Torres said. "We need to humble ourselves a little bit. Things have been going almost too good lately."

Edmonton is 0-2-2 in its last four home games. The last five meetings between these teams at Rexall Place have been decided by one goal.

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